Method and apparatus for cleaning the mouth contact area of drinking glasses



M. P. REILLY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE MOUTH CONTACT AREA OFDRINKING GLASSES Filed Oct. 4, 1944 INVENTOR. 4/1044? fi m Aim yPatented Jan. 23, 1945 U NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD LANDAPPARATUS FOR CLEANING THE MOUTH CONTAC'IYAREAVOF DRINK- ING GLASSESMichael Paul-Reilly; Shor ewood, Wis. I Amimationociam 4, mic-serum.557,094

"7Clainis.

This invention relates tonal-method andrapparatus for cleaning the'mOHthI'CODlJaCt area of drinking glasses such as :thoseusedin dispensinliquid refreshments.

It has been; found that the usuakmethods'of which may bedirectlyor-indirectly contaminatedby the lipsuofthe user. Whenthis-contamination is not removed, a very unsanitary condition results.In addition to this, it has been found that the formation of a finelyfrothed, creamy collar or top" on the beverage is prevented when thereis any lip grease, natural: oil, or rouge-or soap vfats at the mouthcontact area. When this contamination is present, at the mouth contactarea, both an unpalatable, unattractive drinkand an unsanitary, diseasespreading condition results.

Various attemptshave been made .torovercome this difiiculty. Frequentlythree; separate rinses are employed in sequences including what iscalled a refuse rinse, a clear water-rinse? and a chemical rinse, buteven-with these three successive rinses the greasy contaminated zoneatithemouth-contact area remains. The above method can be :followed(fairly quickly but2is not satisfactory. Aslowermethod has been used inwhich the glasses are washed with soap: and hot water, but this timeconsuming method is seldom followed in places where a :large 1 number"of patrons have to be quickly served and the glasses used over andover. In addition to this 1 even this last method is not whollysatisfactory for there frequently remains a layer of soap fat whichprecludes the formation of. a creamy collar or top on acarbonated'b'everage.

This invention is designed to overcome the above .noted defects andobject of this invention arerto provide a method andian apparatu iifcrthe'rapid cleaning of the .mouthcontact :areat-of glasses in'suchamanner that contamination-such as grease, rouge or natural oil at themouth contact area-of drinking glasses is completely. removed .thusinsuring a thoroughly clean and sanitary glass.

Further objects are to provide a method'and an apparatus which may beused in the method for quick cleaning-nitric. mouth contact. area ofdrinking glasses; theiapparatus being :soarranged that it'is .compactanddoesnotvrequire muchroom and may be-placed, if. desired, on :any.suitable supportj'and may be instantly available so that .aflarge numberof glasses used in serving patrons in publicuplaces may be quickly andthoroughly cleaned. I Ingreater detail objects of this invention are toprovide a container within which is placed a .10 solid,'granular'scouring andcleaning agent and a. liquid 'such as water;forinstance; which .ex

tends to a level above that-of 'the solid, granular scouring andcleaning agent and towprovide a vent pipe" extending through; thevbottomof the container for freely venting the-air trapped in an inserted".glass: and in the, preferred form of theinvention toprovide a lowersupportingmemher forthe container such member-beingequipped with achamber for collecting any overflow-liqg uid that may passdownwardlythrough the vent isof :simple construction which imay be "cheaply made Iand which may bereadily used.

An embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Figure 1:is a vertical sectional view of the device showing the glass inposition to be cleaned, suchview corresponding to a sectionon the line--l--I ofFigure 2.

Eigure 21$ 9. plan view of the structure shown in .Figure l with :theglass and the water and cleaning material omitted and with part of thetop section broken: away.

Figure '3 .is-a .iragmentary view showing the glass being removed fromthe device. Referring to: the drawing it will be .seenthat 40 the deviceconsists-of a container I which :may

tionv is open and is preferably provided with a beaded edge 'to'give, asuitable finish. The. bottom wall 3 isintegral with an upwardlyextending tubular member or vent piped which is openiat both ends.Theupper portion of the tubu'lar member. carries a rubber. bufier-or' acushioning the. container. .l.

The lower portion of the member 6 may be cylindrical as indicated by thereference char-- acter 9 and is provided with a plurality of air ventopening l which are located adjacent the upper part of the cylindricalportion 9. The cylindrical portion 9 is rigidly secured to a base Hwhich may be provided with a beaded lower edge l2. The upper containerhas a sufficiently snug fit with the lower supporting means or lowerportion to prevent the upper container from turning with reference tothe lower supporting means when the glass is rotated during the scouringand cleaning operation. The device may be placed on a bar or counter ormay be placed on any other suitable supporting surface.

In using the device, the container I has a mixture of cleaning andscouring material indicated by the reference character I3 positionedtherein to about the line It. This compound consists of a scouring agentsuch as sand mixed with an alkaline agent and also with a chlorinecarrying agent. A few of the compounds that have been found satisfactoryare listed herewith:

Per cent Sand 50 Tri sodium phosphate 35 Tetra sodium pyro phosphate 14Sodium paratoluene-sulfonchloramide 1 Sand 60 Tri sodium phosphate 30Tetra sodium pyro phosphate The sand is preferably white silicon sandwhich will pass through approximately 50 to 60 mesh screen and which hasthe natural irregularity in its surface to provide the necessaryfunction for the securing action hereinafter to be described but whichis not sharp enough to scratch the glass.

After the compound [3 has been positioned within the container I, suchcontainer is filled with water to approximately the level indicated bythe reference character [5. The chemicals are only partly dissolved andthe water is maintained in a saturated condition. There remains a largepart of undissolved chemicals mixed with the sand as shown in Figure 1.

In using the device the glass I6 is inserted into the container I overthe air vent tube 4. The

glass is forced down into the mixture of sand The downward motion of theglass causes a thus sweeps away or washes away any adhering solidparticles of the cleaning and scouring agent.

In the cleaning of the glass at a bar, the glass is first rinsed inrunning water which rinse is usually referred to as a refuse rinse.Thereafter the glass is cleaned in the manner hereinbefore described byquickly thrusting the glass downwardly through the saturated chemicalsolution and into the solid cleaning and scouring agent and giving it afew quick half turns and thereafter quickly removing it by an upwardmotion. After this the glass is dipped and rinsed in what is commonlycalled a chemical rinse."

Obviously a clear water rinse could precede the chemical rinse ifdesired.

In the processes heretofore used in cleaning beverage glasses there hasbeen no means whereby the oily surface at the mouth contact area couldbe removed. This oily material is caused by the natural body grease ofthe lips of the user and frequently caused by means of rouge and otherpreparations applied to the lips. This mouth contact area is a fertilefield for the transmission of diseases due to the inadequacy of theordinary methods of cleaning beverage glasses. In addition, the greaseon the glass prevents the formation of a creamy collar. However byfollowing the method hereinbefore described it is apparent that thegrease and contamination is most readily and most easily scrubbed offand removed b the chemical solution and by the solid scouring agent. Thewhite silicon sand acts powerfully as a scouring agent and its action issupplemented materially by means of the undissolved chemicals mingledwith the sand.

It is to be understood that the device may take other forms than theportable form shown. For instance, the lower portion of the device maybe formed as a part of the bar fixture if desired and the upper part ofthe device may be removably carried thereby. The form shown has beenfound eminently satisfactory, however, as it provides a fixture whichmay be placed wherever desired and which occupies a small amount ofspace and is of attractive appearance.

It is to be noted that in using the device if any water should pass downthe vent tube 4 it,

is caught in the lower portion and may be poured back from the lowerportion into the upper container.

It will be seen that a very simple type of device and a very simplemethod have been provided by this invention whereby beverage glasses,water glasses, or any kind of drinking glasses may be thoroughlycleaned, particularly at the mouth contact area and may thus have thegrease film or the rouge or other material collecting at the mouthcontact area quickly removed so that the glass presents a fresh, cleanand sparkling appearance and is in a much more sanitary con dition than.has heretofore been possible. In addition to this, there is noadditional time re quired in the cleaning of the glasses as the processmay be followed with the utmost rapidity.

It is to be noted that the expression mouth contact area of glasses isto be interpreted as that area on the inside or outside of the glasswhich may be contaminated, whether there has been contact solely'by thelips of the user or through any other cause; for example, in certaintypes of sterilizers for water glasses it frequently happens that thereis a narrow band of collected scum particularly on the inside of theglass adjacent to the rim of the glass. This area comes within thedefinition of the mouth contact area hereinbefore discussed.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it isto be understood that such description is intended as illustrativerather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and isto be interpreted as claimed.

I claim: I

l. The method of cleaning the mouth contac area of glasses comprisinginserting an inverted glass in a liquid and a scouring mixture of solid;granular material, relieving the trapped air in the glass, partiallyrotating the glass a plurality of times to secure a scouring action withthe scouring mixture below the liquid level, and finally raising theglass directly upwardly and allowing air to rush into the glass so thatthe downward motion of the liquid relative to the inside and outsidesurfaces of the glass will Wash any remaining adhering granular materialfrom the inner and outer surfaces of the glass.

2. A device for cleaning the mouth contact area of drinking glassescomprising a container having a bottom and an open top and having a ventpipe carried by the bottom and opening through the bottom and open atits top, said container being arranged to hold a solid, granularscouring agent and a liquid, and supporting means removably supportingsaid container.

3. A device for cleaning the mouth contact area of drinking glassescomprising a container having a bottom and an open top and having a ventpipe carried by the bottom and opening through the bottom and open atits top, said container being arranged to hold a solid, granularscouring agent and a liquid, and supporting means removably supportingsaid container, said supporting means being arranged to provide freecommunication of the lower end of the vent pipe with the outside air.

4. A device for cleaning the mouth contact area of drinking glassescomprising an upper container having an open top and a closed bottom andadapted to contain a liquid and a solid, granular scouring agent, a ventpipe opening through the bottom and projecting upwardly in saidcontainer and having anopen upper end, and a lower member removablyholding said upper container and having a collecting chamber for anyliquid that may overflow the vent pipe.

5. A device for cleaning the mouth contact area of drinking glassescomprising an upper container having an Open top and a closed bottom andadapted to contain a liquid and a solid, granular scouring agent, a ventpipe opening through the bottom and projecting upwardly in saidcontainer and having an open upper end, and a lower member removablyholding said upper container and having a collecting chamber for anyliquid that may overflow the vent pipe, said lower member having meansfor venting said collecting chamber.

6. A device for cleaning the mouth contact area of drinking glassescomprising a container, a solid, granular scouring agent and a liquidwithin said container, said liquid extending upvent pipe opening throughthe bottom of said container and open at its upper end, a cushioningring surrounding the upper end of said vent pipe, and supporting meansfor said container, said supporting means being arranged to provide freeventing of the lower end of said vent pipe.

MICHAEL PAUL REILLY.

